Over the years, our King of the Hill contests have pitted Eldorados and Escalades against Mark IVs and Navigators, but when you’re perusing the marketplace for a 400-horse sport sedan, it’s the Leaper’s supercharged S-Type R that squares off neatly with the Wreath and Crest’s Corvette-powered CTS-V.

It didn’t take many miles behind the wheels to find similarities with the BMW M versus Mercedes AMG rivalry. We’re revealing our most important conclusion early here, so pay attention: The CTS-V and S-Type R come closer than the last presidential election in terms of layout and performance, and yet they’re distinctly different like the two cars they most want to be: the M5 and E55 AMG. You can figure which is which: The Cadillac CTS-V, like the M5, comes only with a six-speed manual gearbox, while the Jaguar S-Type R’s six-speed, like the five-speed in the E55, is an automatic. To shift the six-speed automatic yourself, you must use Jaguar‘s clunky, long-in-the-tooth J-gate shifter. (Hint: It’s not worth it.)

Both cars are relative bargains. Buy the Jaguar instead of the Mercedes, and you’ll save $16,950, enough to get your teenager a new Honda Element. Buy the Cadillac instead of the BMW, and you’ll save $23,200, enough to get your mom a new Buick Century. And that’s assuming you can still find a 2003 M5 on your BMW dealer’s lot–there is no 2004, and the M version of the new 5 Series is a year away.

Each marque attacked the midsize performance-sedan question with distinct, yet well-proven methods of achieving horsepower and torque. The Jaguar’s supercharged 4.2-liter V-8 is a blown version of the current AJ-V8 engine series, rated at 390 horses at 6100 rpm and 399 pound-feet of torque at 3500 rpm. It certainly gets the job done, with a drama-free, yet 1960s musclecar-like 5.2-second 0-to-60 run and a 13.69-second quarter-mile time.

Don’t bag on Cadillac for cribbing a Chevy V-8 for its hyper CTS. What this all-aluminum 5.7-liter Gen-III small-block lacks in cams, valves, and superchargers it makes up for in cubic inches and results. The CTS-V has been tuned to 400 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 395 pound-feet at 4800 rpm, off five each in horsepower and torque from the C5 Z06.

Cadillac didn’t design the CTS to accommodate a V-8 engine. Although it’s close to the 5 Series in size, it was supposed to play 3 Series to the 2005 STS’s (Seville) 5 Series. With the recent mandate to build an autobahn version, the Vette motor emerged as the most expedient way to stuff a V-8 under the hood, and one that won’t overshadow future Northstar V-8-powered STS, SRX, and XLR V-Series models. The LS6 pushes the CTS from 0-to-60 mph a bit quicker than the supercharged S-Type, and the Caddy at 5.1 seconds is just 0.21 seconds quicker and 4.02 mph faster than the Jag XKR through the quarter.

As legit sport sedans, these two need to be light on their feet on twisty roads and racecourses. Last year, the Jaguar S-Type got an all-new front suspension with aluminum bits and a revised rear suspension, plus retuned springs, dampers, bushings, and anti-roll bars. The aluminum suspension parts cut weight by about 100 pounds versus the old 4.0-liter S-Type, and the S-Type R weighs 172 pounds more than a normally aspirated S-Type 4.2-liter. The R adds computer active technology with two-stage damping to the front and rear suspension. A 32mm front anti-roll bar and an 18mm rear bar are unchanged from standard versions. Wheel size is up one inch in diameter over the standard V-8, with 245/40ZR18 front and 275/35ZR18 rear tires. Like the Cadillac V-Series, the Jaguar R gets big Brembo brakes.

The General Motors Performance Division (GMPD) beefed up the front suspension and cradle of the CTS to handle the V’s higher horsepower and torque. The front cradle has higher-gauge hydroformed steel, and the hollow front anti-roll bar is 3.6 millimeters thicker in diameter (26.6 millimeters) than the standard car’s bar. Spring rates are up about 27 percent, and the monotube shocks are about 0.4 inches wider, with revised valving. Ride bushings are tuned for more positive feel, and the steering gear is revised for more precise steering tuning, on-center feel, and response. The changes helped GMPD desensitize the steering for less feedback and offset 84 more pounds of unsprung weight.

Like the S-Type R, the CTS-V has 18-inch wheels, using P245/45WR18 rubber all around. The big seven-spoke alloys look like the ones meant to fill these wheelwells in the first place. And while the car’s origami styling still leaves us a bit cool, Cadillac was smart enough to offer the V in the car’s two most flattering hues, black and silver. Interior color options are ebony or light neutral, with tasteful brushed- aluminum accents to break up the monotone of the steering wheel and center console. Still, if the exterior styling matches new BMW design for outlandishness, the interior is like that of the stark, Teutonic BMWs of the 1960s and 1970s. The CTS-V’s contoured leather and suede seats are great at holding the driver and front passenger in place, even on snaking two-lanes, and an adjustable lumbar control addresses a fatal flaw of the standard CTS’s seats. Some will find the CTS-V’s front seats too hard for daily use–those who sleep on firm mattresses will appreciate the support for longer drives.

Changes to the Jag’s interior for the sport model are even more understated than in the Caddy. The only visual clues inside include the “R” logo embossed into the front-seat headrests, a red “R” on the gearshift knob, and the word “supercharged” in small script on the rev counter. The Jaguar has good backseat space, like the CTS-V, except for the headroom, which is a bit cramped due to the car’s sloping roofline. Stoplight competitors will be alerted only by the big wheels, subtle badging, cool mesh grille, and rear decklid lip spoiler. The CTS-V’s styling speaks to Bad Boys with Money, and the clubby atmosphere and feel of the S-Type R is for stylish, sporting types who look like they’ve just stepped out of a Ralph Lauren Polo ad in Vanity Fair.

Loud versus quiet also describes the differences in dynamics and feel. The two cars might have similar performance numbers, but the similarities end at the turn of the ignition keys. The S-Type R idles as one expects–you have to glance at the rev counter to make sure it’s running (so you don’t screech the starter by keying it again). That’s not a problem with the CTS-V. It’s not 1969 Camaro Z/28 lumpy, but the gently loping burble does betray the car’s hot cam. Cadillac worried that the CTS-V wouldn’t sound slick enough for prestige buyers, but once you let out the clutch and dig into the throttle, the lumpiness gives way to a rich, polished V-8 rasp. The car announces its arrival with an attitude that does the M5 proud. Thumbs up to the authoritative, progressive exhaust note that accompanies a rapid run through the six gears.

Thumbs down, though, on the car’s rear-axle hop, which made launches for 0-to-60 and quarter-mile times tricky. Sure, the car has been Nuerburgring-developed and feels best running up and down the gears on winding roads and racecourses, but it’s still V-8 American luxury, which suggests it should be able to hold its own at the dragstrip. It doesn’t feel dragstrip-ready, however. Hard launches in the 2500-2800-rpm range left a staccato thumping of tires and little black squares instead of proper black stripes.

The CTS-V redeemed itself, at least, by actually handling like a large sports car instead of a big American sedan with too-wide tires–typical of traditional sport-package GM models. Like the BMW M5, the CTS-V’s ride quality is good, even on Detroit’s harsh roads. The suspension is progressively firm, allowing a bit of roll initially in the corners, but then hardening like concrete, allowing zigs and zags a Catera owner could only dream of. The steering is quick, direct, and with good feel, among the best GM has ever done in a production car.

All this road aggression, the good and the bad, emerges from the CTS-V in an overt manner. It screams, “Yeah, I’m bad!” Not so the Jaguar S-Type R, its power emerging in quiet clubroom whispers, with a steady stream of locomotive-like power and torque. Good for collecting freeway traffic–100-plus mph is…right…there, and collecting speeding tickets as you try to explain, “Why, no, officer. This is a luxury car, not a performance car.”

Like AMG products, the Jag R has a supple ride, with firmer damping for superior control and handling. So its demeanor seems well suited for an automatic, and the ZF six-speed will make all but the most extreme of enthusiasts forget the need for a clutch pedal. It shuffles ratios at part- or full-throttle with exceptional smoothness and selects shift points with tranny-textbook correctness. The car’s only uncivil behavior is a tendency to transmit a bit too much info through the steering wheel while on ragged metropolitan road surfaces. But if you have to choose between too much or too little steering feedback, this is obviously the better way to go.

Handling differences between the Jag and the Caddy are really little more than variations on a theme. As you can see from the 600-foot- slalom speeds, those variations produce virtually the same results. The CTS-V manages the slalom at 65.0 mph even, as does the S-Type R. That’s a draw in any match.

So in our New World Order King of the Hill competition, we end up with two distinct sport sedans with the same mission and startlingly similar performance numbers. One is, to dredge up a tired marketing cliche that suits it so well, “in your face” in the way it drives as well as the way it looks. The other is a fast phantom that whispers its power and is gone before you have a chance to notice it.

Which is the better piece? Both do their jobs so well; your personal choice will depend on which attitude, marque, and perhaps transmission suits you best. If you like BMW’s M cars, the Cadillac CTS-V is more likely your taste. If you prefer Mercedes AMGs of any and all stripes, and you’re happy letting the car shift its own gears, buy the Jaguar S-Type R.

Our choice, in spite of the CTS-V’s not-insignificant price advantage, is the Jag. It’s quick, engaging, and displays more elan than one should expect from a two-ton car. And when you’re in the mood–or in the traffic–best suited for a pure luxury car, the R coddles and soothes. It also fills a smart niche that exists between the 300-or-so-horsepower V-8 versions of most premium-luxury sedans and super four-doors like the E55 and Audi RS 6. Yet if your needs shout “sedan” while your psyche shouts “Corvette,” you won’t be unhappy with the hot-rod-hearted CTS-V. This pair represents two cool, different-yet-similar ways to carry five–and haul buns.

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